Transparent enclosures: Design Strategies for Free Form Shells

Transparent enclosures: Design Strategies for Free Form Shells

Nikolaou, N.

Veer, F. (mentor)
Eigenraam, P. (mentor)

Architecture and The Built Environment

Building Technology

Building Technology

2015-06-30

Free-form transparent wide-span spatial structures which have being constructed so far, are based on the concept of three sets of components, the structural components, usually steel elements to ensure both compressive and tensional capacity; the glass cladding elements for expressing transparency; and thirdly an in between set for connecting the cladding with the primary skeleton. Even though glass technology is becoming more and more promising, glass is still considered doubtful in a load-bearing capacity, which implies to a repetitive architectural and engineering repertoire. Nevertheless, in the last two decades there has been a tendency to explore the design and realization of pure structural glass domes. The outcome of these experiments, resulted in glass domes of the same conservative geometry of a sphere of small spans between 5-12.5m. Therefore, the glass still has not reached its limits in terms of architectural forms and span size. Additionally, those studies do not pay any attention n climate performace of the structures limiting to structural aspects. Therefore what is of special interest concerning the presented research is whether or not there are possibilities to implement glass plates in the construction of free-form spatial structures, as a main load-bearing component and the same time fulfil climate performance requirements. In respect to the emerging technologies of glass technology and computation, design strategies revolving around the assumption of using glass to realize a transparent form-active system, are presented through a new concept for an innovative connection method. In particular, the concept of connection relies on the composition of a transparent hybrid composite composed by thermally strengthened glass, sentry glass plus and woven fabric composite. Particularly, the composite has an extended part outwards of a reinforced glass plate, used for easy assembly and disassembly as well as the transfer of tensile forces and improving so the post breakage behaviour. The complete system out of glass plates and joints is controlled by determining the appropriate stiffness during design. The ultimate target, is to apply the concept of this joining method to any free-form shell geometry constructed out of planar glass plates. In particular, the concept of the hybrid transparent composite is explicitly analysed and numerically modelled in order to determine the parameters influencing the performance of structure. The analysis and FE modelling as well as thermal performance simulations took place in three levels, the micro, meso and macro scale so giving information about the performance from the smallest part to the whole structure. For investigating the macro scale, that is a case study of an application of the hybrid transparent composite, an existing transparent roof shell was chosen for the purposes of the research. The existing shell sets the framework of a specific engineering problem giving so a context to the research. Therefore, by re-approaching the same engineering problem, the aim is to maximize the levels of transparency, to minimize the visual disruption caused by the connections and in addition, to solve the same engineering problem with less construction materials by which the use of steel is minimized and the attention focuses on the load-bearing capacity of glass.

structural glass

http://resolver.tudelft.nl/uuid:445529df-179b-44a8-8f0e-0ae4d583fb45

Student theses

master thesis

(c) 2015 Nikolaou, N.